A gas turbine engine is used to power various types of vehicles and systems. A particular type of gas turbine engine that may be used to power aircraft is a turbofan gas turbine engine. A turbofan gas turbine engine may include, for example, five major sections: a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section and an exhaust section.
The fan section is positioned at the inlet section of the engine and includes a fan that induces air from the surrounding environment into the engine and accelerates a fraction of this air toward the compressor section. The compressor section raises the pressure of the air it receives from the fan section and directs a majority of the high pressure air into the combustor section. In the combustor section, the high pressure air is mixed with fuel and combusted. The high-temperature combusted air is then directed into the turbine section where it expands through and rotates each turbine to drive various components within the engine or aircraft. The air is then exhausted through a propulsion nozzle disposed in the exhaust section.
In order to meet certification requirements, portions of aircraft, such as the engines, are required to be able to function for a specific period of time when exposed to fire, for example in the event of an engine fire. As such, portions of the engine are provided with fireproof systems, such as firewalls or fire resistant panels. To maximize protection or to meet certification requirements, convention techniques include increasing the thickness of the fire resistant panels or adding additional structures. However, these techniques typically increase the overall weight of the engine, which may undesirably decrease engine thrust to weight efficiency.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide fireproofing techniques for improved performance but without unduly increasing the weight of the engine. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.